INCREDIBLE GIANT SQUID

Giant squid can grow to an awesome size with their bodies reaching 2 metres in length and a weight of 275 kg. When you add the eight shorter arms used for holding and the two long tentacles used for grabbing prey, giant squid can be up to 13 metres long. The giant squid is the second largest mollusc loosing first place to the colossal squid.

 

The first photos of a live giant squid in its natural habitat were taken during September, 2004 by researchers from the National Science Museum of Japan and the Ogasawara Whale Watching Association using special underwater cameras.

 

The image is used here strictly for educational purposes. Original copyright for this image: "Copyright (C) Kyoto Prefecture

Marine biologists have discovered that giant squid feed on deep-sea fish and smaller squid. They catch their prey using the two muscular tentacles which are armed with sharp-edged suckers on the ends. The food is brought back toward the mouth where a powerful beak (like a parrot beak) tears it to pieces. The pieces are then shredded with the radula (a tongue with small teeth) and swallowed.

While suckers are found only on the ends of a squids two tentacles, they are also found along the full length of the inside of the eight arms. Suckers on the arms are smaller (2-5cm) but there are hundreds of them.

It is thought that the only things powerful enough to eat a grown giant squid are sperm whales and the huge Pacific sleeper sharks found in freezing depths. Scientists often find circular scars left by the sharp suckers on the head of sperm whales. Who usually wins the gigantic battles thousands of metres below the surface is unknown.

Giant squid have three hearts: one for each of the two gills and one for the body. They have a very advanced brain able to deal with all the muscles and sensory nerves. They also have the largest eyes of any living creature (except for the colossal squid) — at more than 30 centimetres.

Giant squid are found in all of the world's oceans. They are usually found near continental and island slopes that drop into the depths of the abyss. They like cold, deep water and are seldom found in tropical and polar latitudes.

 

In 2005, the Melbourne Aquarium in Australia paid AUD$100,000 for a giant squid, frozen in a huge block of ice. It was caught by fishermen off the coast of New Zealand.

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